Editor's Pick

It's a Strange Time to be a Travel Magazine

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The last few weeks have asked to re-evaluate the ways in which we live, and take stock of what truly matters.

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It’s been a wild ride for all of us so far, as March 2020 has us all facing the biggest global disruption since World War II. We’ve all been asked to re-evaluate the ways in which we live, and take stock of what truly matters to us. The travel industry has ground to a halt, bringing down with it entire economies and communities. This month, we began to hear the phrase “non-essential” travel, forcing us to confront the very nature of travel and what it means for each of us, and what place it holds in the larger scheme of things.

It’s a strange time to be celebrating GRID’s sixth anniversary, but in the midst of all this, allow us to thank you for being on this journey with us, and revisit some of our best stories over the years. If the travel industry is to survive and become the lifeline that it always has been for communities and entire countries, we believe that we’ll need imagination and hope. Dreams are essential to rebuilding.

We hope that our stories throughout the past six years will continue to carry you into the future.

Scene from the Masbate Rodeo as a Filipino cowbo ropes a bull

A MAN CALLED HORSEFLY, AND OTHER Stories from THE MASBATE RODEO

Masbate City, Masbate

You’ll find no flowers or saints at the Masbate Rodeo; just a celebration of the honest life of the Filipino Cowboy. Sonny Thakur breathes in the dust kicked up by the country’s biggest rodeo festival, as he goes in for an up-close look at the incredible Pinoy cowboy subculture. Read the full story.

A racing driver wears a blue and red helmet; details of the Volvo XC60 steering wheel

MAN VS. MACHINE

Anilao, Batangas

Our worst driver takes one of the world’s safest cars on a road trip to Batangas. What could go wrong? Fasten your seatbelts and join Nina Unlay on an… eventful drive. (Sorry Volvo! Sorry Mike and Pinky!) Read the full story.

Motorcyles driving along the streets of Old Manila

MANILA IN 9,000 STEPS

Manila City, Manila

Celine Mallari takes us on a walking tour around the old streets of Manila and shows us the beauty that lies within the country’s neglected capital. Read the full story.

Chef Jordy Navarra plating a dish at Toyo Eatery

PORTRAITS OF A CHEF

Metro Manila, NCR

The life of a chef isn’t easy. Nina Unlay sits down with six of the country’s best ones to learn what gets them up in the morning, and what keeps them up at night. Read the full story.

A saltmaker slicing soaked coconut husks; a salt egg from Albur, Bohol

THE PRICE OF SALT

Alburquerque, Bohol

Famous on the internet as “The Dinosaur Egg,” Bohol’s Asin Tibuok now stands on the brink of its own extinction. Chiara de Castro meets with the last of its makers to learn how they keep their traditions alive.  Read the full story.

Aerial view of Flower Island in Taytay, Palawan

TREASURE ISLAND

Flower Island, Taytay, Palawan

Shrouded in mystery and romance, the South Sea pearls of the Philippines are truly a sight to behold. Kristine Fonacier travels to the ends of the archipelago to uncover the real treasure behind Palawan’s South Sea pearl farms. Read the full story.

Apo Whang-od wearing a t-shirt with an image of actor Coco Martin

WHANG-OD LOVES COCO MARTIN

Buscalan, Kalinga

Sometimes the best stories are the ones you don’t see coming. Nina Unlay makes the trip up to Buscalan to meet a national treasure, and finds out that things aren’t what they seem. Read the full story.

A freediver underwater in Sasa, Davao City

WATER BREATHERS

Sasa, Davao City, Davao del Sur

The world is more water than it is land, and there are people who are getting to know our oceans in the purest, most extreme way. Kristine Fonacier discovers what pro freedivers are learning from the Sama of Davao. Read the full story.

This story was originally published in

Volume 8 | Paths and Terrains

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